The Denver Nuggets and Minnesota Timberwolves already had a strong case as the best current rivalry in the NBA.
That case grew stronger Monday night.
The Nuggets and Timberwolves engaged in a basketball brawl in Game 2 of their first-round playoff series, with the Timberwolves outlasting the Nuggets to win 119-114 and even the series at 1-1.
After the game, Minnesota forward Jaden McDaniels was asked about the keys to the Timberwolves’ offensive rhythm, and McDaniels did not mince words.
“Go at [Nikola] Jokic,” McDaniels said. “Go at Jamal [Murray], all the bad defenders. Tim Hardaway [Jr.], Cam Johnson, Aaron Gordon, the whole team. Just go at ’em. […] They’re all bad defenders.”
On Wednesday, Nuggets head coach David Adelman was asked about McDaniels’ comments, and he deadpanned, “I can’t wait for his podcast,” and later added, “It’ll help his social media.”
An off-camera reporter asked whether McDaniels’ saying the Nuggets are bad at defense created “bulletin board material,” and Adelman shot that down.
“I don’t know, not for me,” he said. “I think narrative is really interesting, too. You hear so many things, and we’ve gotten really lazy as a society. Like, what’s our defensive rating in this series? 109. How is that?”
When told it’s the sixth-best among playoff teams, Adelman nodded and said, “Okay, next.”
That sound you hear is popcorn popping in preparation for Game 3 between the Nuggets and Timberwolves on Thursday. The game will tip off at 9:30 p.m. EST from Target Center in Minneapolis and broadcast on Prime Video.